Hotels in Venice are giving water guns to tourists to guard against seagulls
On one of my trips to Venice with friends, we stopped for an afternoon snack near St. Mark's Square, there [...]
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On one of my trips to Venice With friends, we stopped for an afternoon snack near St. Mark's Square, we sat on steps eating and chatting. Camille, our French friend, made the serious mistake of holding the piada too much distant, So suddenly, with a sudden dart, a seagull descended in swoop grabbing the food with his beak and then flying away satisfied.
Camille was so disappointed, with the second piada she was more careful. The problem with the gulls in Venice is serious: they are not afraid of anything, they litter, disturb and attack tourists for the food mercilessly.
Some businesses have tried to deter birds from disturbing customers stopped at the bar by using nets, ultrasound or with the good old broom, but the birds do not give up and continue undisturbed to make Venice their home. Also intervening in the problem was the AVA, or the Venetian Hoteliers Association, which organized real seminars To help members solve the problem.
Here are some hotels in Venice have decided to find a more creative to the seagull problem, namely equipping tourists who are guests of the facilities with water guns.
Photo from "il gazzettino.it"
Long ago the problem was the pigeons, hundreds populated the city, especially in St. Mark's Square where they even became an attraction with passersby feeding them. For the past 15 years or so, however, seagulls have been increased increasingly, decimating the population of pigeons, which are considered food-stealing enemies: in fact, it is not uncommon to see seagull attacks on pigeons for food or territorial defense.
Luxury hotels have tried over the years to run for cover, culminating in this and other gull-hunting gimmicks:
"We provide our guests with water guns to drive away the birds. Lately, after the pandemic, we have noticed many more seagulls. As they see them they run away. We tried all kinds of ways, with a fake owl circling, but the pigeons would go up on their heads.
The falconer has a significant cost and calling him every day becomes excessive. Then a discussion with an expert revealed that these animals don't like the color orange, it bothers them. There are many cases where we have had to reimburse customers for drinks spilled on the floor and stains on clothes.""
Paolo Lorenzoni, director of Hotel Gritti in Giudecca Island.
"Our terrace at the water's edge, which is always sunny, is also popular with pigeons and seagulls. In the past we had called a falconer, but after an hour the birds would return. Now we provide guests with guns and cover all snacks."
Enrico Mazzocco, director of Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal near St. Mark's Square
The first nesting dates back to the 2000 and in 2005 there were about one twenty of pairs of specimens now exceed the 500. For pigeons over the years, deterrents such as spikes, electrostatic wires, and ultrasound have been used.
"Similar bollards will have to be considered for gulls as well, in addition to intervening on nests to reduce their reproductive success. They are adaptive animals; I've seen them stationed quietly over acoustic bollards once they realized they were not dangerous."
Francesca Coccon, a researcher with the interuniversity consortium Corila, a scholar of the presence of the herring gull in Venice
As annoying as they are, it is not right to harm seagulls, just like any other animal, so the water gun stunt could be a nice solution To avoid eventful encounters with feathered...
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